Sylvia St. James is an American soul singer, born and raised in Waukeegan, Illinois. Later in life she would re-locate to the Los Angeles area and for a year and a half would live in an Ashram. Reflecting on this period Sylvia revealed that “…It was while I was at the Ashram that I got seriously involved with music. It just happened that everyone I lived with was a musician and when the Ashram broke up, I made a conscious decision to be a professional musician and dancer”. Not long after Sylvia came under the employ of the Mike Curb Congregation, which was her first professional foray into the Pop music scene. Sylvia sang back-up vocals both live and on recordings for a myriad of artists such as Connie Francis, the Pointer Sisters, Ronnie Laws, George Duke, Roland Bautista, Willie Bobo & Frank Zappa.

In 1977 she would become the 3rd female vocalist for L.A. based group Side Effect. Sylvia would stay with the band through 2 albums – ‘Goin’ Bananas’ (recorded in 1977 and featuring the rare-groove classic “Private Joy”) and ‘Rainbow Visions’ in 1978.

In 1980 Sylvia cut her debut album for Elektra. Entitled ‘Magic’, the album is unique for an 80’s project due to its thoughtful, conscious approach with lyrics that reflect somewhat mystical leanings. Producers Lenny White (Return To Forever, Twennynine) & Larry Dunn (Earth, Wind & Fire) bring Sylvia’s strong vocal style to the fore and compliment it perfectly with a light jazzy R&B sound, adding flourishes of lushness where needed. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.